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Ellis Continues to Lead the Jim Russell Race of Champions

 July 13th 2010

        Alex Ellis has come ever so close to an absolute perfect weekend. Thursday, July 8^th saw the young Canadian driver lead every one of the four practice sessions leading up to the 2010 Jim Russell Race of Champions Rounds 3&4.

 

Friday morning saw the drivers arrive at a very cold Infineon Raceway, where temperatures were in the 60’s for a good part of the morning. Ellis led the field through the morning warm-up, clocking a time 0.5s faster than Brett Smrz, his closest rival.

           

10:45 am saw Ellis snatch the pole in qualifying by .4s, running only three laps in the 30-minute session in an effort to manage his tires. Brett Smrz was able to claim P2, while fellow Future Driver, Gary Carlton, claimed the inside of Row 2.

 

            Race one took place at 12:40 p.m, and saw Alex get a blistering start, jumping to a clear 1s gap by the end of the first lap. Unfortunately, on Lap two Brett Smrz lost control going into the 210 km/h Turn 10 and made hard contact with the outside wall, ending his day. After the 5 lap Safety Car period, Ellis put in a blistering lap after lap, eventually winning by a margin of 12.4s.

 

            Race two got underway at 2:40 p.m, with Ellis once again taking a commanding lead early in the race, holding a consistent 6s gap to 2^nd place man Gary Carlton. About halfway through the race, it was apparent that Ellis was beginning to have some car problems.

 

“From the start of the race, I could have sworn I smelt something burning, as it never went away, but I didn’t notice any problems, I didn’t think anything of it… Just after I set my fastest lap of the race, as I was going through the esses, and the cockpit of my car filled up with smoke. At that point, I knew something was really wrong, so I started short shifting and doing everything I could to try to nurse the car home.”

 

            Alex was able to nurse the car, seemingly, to the end of the race. With Carlton more than 3s behind, Ellis exited the final corner, accelerating to victory, when his engine decided it had had enough. A mere 100 meters from the finish line, Carlton swept by the coasting Canadian to claim the victory, leaving Ellis to coast to a P2 finish.

 

            “I have to say, I think it’s the most frustrating thing that’s ever happened to me in my racing career…  I was really down on power for the 2^nd half of the race, so I was driving 110%, while short shifting to try to give the motor a bit of a break. I thought I had it in the bag, exiting the last corner, and when the engine just completely shut off so suddenly, my heart sank. I grabbed the clutch instantly and just coasted, hoping that I could still beat Gary to the line.”

 

            It turns out that Alex’s exhaust manifold broke in the very early stages of the race. The trapped heat underneath the engine cover started melting and burning wires, eventually leading to a short in the last 5 seconds of the race. Ellis received praise for his level of maturity as he handled the situation very well, showing little to no frustration at the unfortunate unraveling of Round 4.

 

            The final two rounds of the Jim Russell Race of Champions will take place on August 6^th, where the champion will receive a paid Indy Lights race weekend in support to the IndyCar championship to take place two weeks later, also at Infineon Raceway. Ellis currently leads the championship by two points,  and hopes to lock up the championship in one month’s time.